Letters to the editor for Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Tuesday

May 21, 2013 at 2:00 AM

In Philadelphia, the jury convicted Dr. Kermit Gosnell of the murder of babies born alive during late-term abortions. The description of the procedures and the evidence against Dr. Gosnell was horrifying. There was no question of the humanity and the right to life of those babies.

In Philadelphia, the jury convicted Dr. Kermit Gosnell of the murder of babies born alive during late-term abortions. The description of the procedures and the evidence against Dr. Gosnell was horrifying. There was no question of the humanity and the right to life of those babies.

The Reproductive Health Act that Gov. Cuomo is promoting will legalize abortions at any point during a pregnancy for any health reason. If this act becomes law in New York State then the only difference between murder and legal abortion will be the location of the baby. The Reproductive Health Act legalizes late-term abortions, the killing of a baby inside the womb.

The Reproductive Health Act has nothing to do with reproductive health and is an affront to the dignity and intelligence of the women of New York State. Silence on this issue is acceptance. Please contact the governor and our representatives in the senate and tell them to remove the Reproductive Health Act from the legislative agenda.

Anne L. Gross

Warwick

A recent letter stated that rights guaranteed by the first 10 amendments to the U.S. Constitution were absolute. A response challenged that assumption, asserting instead that "All rights have reasonable limits." The question is: Who decides what is reasonable?

Citing libel laws and the anecdotal restriction on falsely crying "fire" in a crowded theatre, the challenger is on solid ground. In each instance, the exercise of one man's free speech right may cause harm or jeopardize the safety of others, and is reasonably prohibited. One man's right ends where another man's nose begins. But in citing restrictions on religious freedom, i.e., outlawing the use of hallucinogenic mushrooms in one, and the requirement that Utah outlaw polygamy as a prerequisite to entering the union in the other, the writer is on shaky ground. Yes, these things happened. No, they were not reasonable restrictions. Outlawing the sacrifice of a virgin by throwing her into the mouth of a volcano would qualify. These examples do not, in that their exercise harms no one else.

Restricting religious freedom to Judeo-Christian tenets may very well have found harbor in our laws and court decisions, but such restrictions are simply biased. They are not reasonable.